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Chapter 5 - Everyone's An Enemy (CF)
The Kremlings were a very accepting crew. The more Tubba talked to them, the more he realized they had in common with the Clubbas. The Kritters were one of the most genetically gifted species on the planet, much like the Clubbas, and they had been a target for annexation by the Koopa Kingdom a few hundred years ago - the difference being that the Kremlings fought it off. However, the Kremling Islands, a group of islands off to the east, never managed to unite under a single leader like the Clubbas, Koopas or many of the other species of the world. Tubba felt truly at home among the Kritters of Kremstag's crew: the lazy streaks, the unculturedness, the burly competitions... this was like being with his own species again. Kremstag had been more than willing to tell Tubba exactly what they stood for over the various dinners, along with their recent past. Tubba had a decent grasp on Kremling history, with the closest they ever came to uniting under a single leader when King K. Rool took over the southern half of the Kremling Island's in the late 80s. Rool was often at odds with his brother, Lumsy, who opposed Rool's dictatorial rule and suppression of those who argued against him. Kremstag, who had found favour with Rool, set up the murder of Lumsy - Tubba blanched at this part of the story - cementing himself in Rool's inner circle. Lumsy had been one of the key voices preventing Rool's takeover of the northern isles, and with Lumsy out of the way, Rool set his sights on the north. The rush of rage and aggression was in the Kremlings' blood, with civil war and anarchy common among the Kremling Islands and thus making it an unfavourable destination for foreigners. The offhand way Kremstag spoke about "eliminating" Lumsy was enough to send a chill down Tubba's spine, as he remembered how far he had gone with that attitude. However, Kremstag seemed much calmer than Tubba had been with that perception, but still profusely maintaining that Lumsy needed to be eliminated for Rool to take ultimate power. Tubba's desire to drive the conversation away from Lumsy's end to the more recent history of the Kremlings led to him to learn that Rool's death less than a year ago had driven a wedge between the nearly-united Kremling Islands. The Kremlings' had rarely flirted with forms of government, so when Rool died, a plan for who would succeed him was not in place. Kremstag had risen to Rool's right hand man, and to many of the high ranking Kremlings in the inner circle around Rool, he was the heir presumptive. But the dark horse was Rool's son, Alm. Should the leader of the Kremlings be hereditary? Eventually, the high ranking Kremlings passed over Kremstag and picked Alm to succeed Rool. Kremstag had been relatively calm when confronting Tubba, but the fury he displayed over the gripe of Alm taking over the leadership was unparalleled. Fists clenched, eyes burning with rage, teeth gnashing, kicking over tankards of Chuckola Cola, Kremstag retold the story of Alm - nineteen year old Alm - pipping him. Tubba told his story to the Kremlings, from being the heir apparent of Gusty Gulch, through the times aboard the SS Mahruav - tactfully skipping over the death of Bubba - into the Glitz Pit, battling for his Kingdom, and then losing and being stuck in the Glitz Pit while wanted in all the territories of the world. While Kremstag was empathetic for Tubba losing his Kingdom, much like Kremstag had lost the Kremlings, he refused to carry Tubba, a wanted man, on ship much longer than he had to. So, Tubba agreed to be dropped off in a rather obscure port on the Waffle Kingdom, where he would begin his life on land on a wanted man. While Tubba knew his ultimate goal, that being to liberate his Kingdom from the Koopa Kingdom, the task seemed very difficult when he would be wandering the rural Waffle Kingdom. He would not be able to go to a large city, for he would be recognized and then jailed, or worse, sent back to the Glitz Pit. He had a faint idea of where to start, but was not quite certain. However, he would not let the Kremlings show how overwhelmed he felt, bidding them farewell at the dock. He would miss them a little for their similarities to Clubbas, but their intensity, their passion, was a little terrifying. He bid farewell to the Kremling ship steaming out of port, pleased to see that Kremstag was the last Kremling to get out of sight. In another time, maybe they could've been close friends. They were nearly the same age, after all, Kremstag was thirty-two, and Tubba was nearly thirty. It was through his wisdom of thirty years that would give him an outlet to liberate the Clubba Kingdom from the rule of the Koopas, led by Ludwig von Koopa officially, but led by Clubbette, his traitor half-sister, and Mazette, the queen who did nothing to stop her husband, King Mycerinus, Tubba's cousin, from dying. Tubba had heard of tribes of Clubbas that lived in the north Waffle Kingdom. Once upon a time, the various Clubban royal tribes were spread across the lands, but over time, many of the lines had died out as the Koopas, Mushroomians, Beans and Waffles expanded into their territory, rendering the tribes superfluous. Still, the unwelcoming north Waffle Kingdom was most likely Tubba's best bet to rally Clubbas around his cause. The obscure port on the Waffle Kingdom Tubba had agreed to be dropped off on was in the south Waffle Kingdom, on the Pudding continent, the westernmost of the two Waffle Kingdom continents, and therefore farther away from the Mushroom Kingdom than the Strudel continent. The town was known as Byrnt Port, a seedy little place that resembled Rogueport with the cobbled stones and buildings with rotting wood, except much smaller. Many of the residents had amassed on the port when the magnificent Kremling ship had drawn into the harbour. Tubba reflected that while he had seen much grander ships in his time, the residents were probably not used to such large, well-designed ships drawing into their vague town. Tubba shoved rudely past the amalgamation of species accumulating at the port - Bandits, Toads, humans, Clefts and Pokeys were among the species who had come out to see why the Kremling ship had stopped in their harbour. Tubba could feel the dozens of eyes following him as he tracked up the cracked stairs that led to the centre of the little town - he was going to get out of town and move north as soon as possible. Many people had tried to get his attention by waving authoratively at him as they stood watching on the port, but Tubba merely stared straight ahead and walked forward. He could not risk anyone recognizing him. His face had become quite recognizable, from being a Glitz Pit battler to being wanted. Although Byrnt Port seemed hardly the place for martial arts enthusiasts, he could not be certain. "'Cuse me!" A green-robed Bandit muttered as he knocked against Tubba on the stairs, before vanishing into the crowd milling behind the large Clubba. Tubba, aware of the eyes awaiting his reaction - if he reacted aggressively, he would be in trouble for sure, recognized or not, decided to think nothing of it. But when he reached the top of the stairs, a voice in his head muttered: ''Bandits are sneaky. They ARE called Bandits for a reason. ''Sure enough, when Tubba reached back into his shell with his free hand, he established that he had lost something very important to him. In a split second, Tubba had his meaty red left hand to the throat of the culprit, having raced down the stairs to the astonished cries of the crowd, elbowed them aside, grabbed the Bandit before he could get away, pivoting on the cobbled stones on the narrow spur of cement sticking out into the ocean, and slammed the Bandit against the hard concrete, before pinning him down with a hand to the throat. In the Bandit's grimy hands was a sharp-edged golden shard - exactly what Tubba was after. "Give that back, you gutless Bandit!" Tubba snarled, attempting to snatch the shard from the Bandit's surprisingly rigid fingers. Rather than oblige, the Bandit twisted away from Tubba and chucked the shard to his right, across the clear blue sky, and into the greenish sea. Not even bothering to check whether the shard had sank - it surely had - Tubba drew his right hand back, bracing his club, preparing to whack the Bandit with it. "Why, you little-" Before he executed his blow to the Bandit, Tubba stopped. He could not go through with what he was about to do and expect to leave Byrnt Port alive. Rather, he halted, released his left hand from the throat of the Bandit, and strode to the edge of the pier, where he confirmed that the shard was gone. That shard had once been part of the regalia that had indicated his position as Crown Prince to the Clubban throne, regalia that he had shattered. It had been quite important to him. "Do yourself a favour, Clubby Boy, and carry money next time." The Bandit remarked, a trickle of blood oozing from under the mask from it's forehead. Tubba felt rage boil up inside him, but he contented himself with just a furious glare in the Bandit's direction as the Bandit hobbled back through the crowd. Tubba collected himself, and was intending to make his way back through the crowd and up the stairs and leave town as soon as posssible, when he found his path barred by yet another person. The person blocking his path was just a small Toad, sporting a purple vest to go alongside a purple-spotted cap, as well as a hefty walrus mustache. "Good day, Sir Clubba!" The Toad exclaimed happily, taking a step back when Tubba narrowed his eyes. "We happened to notice that you are cash-strapped! As the mayor of Byrnt Port, we would be more than happy to provide you with some monetary assistance if you, being the burly Clubba you are, could help us load the hold of a ship due to come in!" Tubba snorted. This was clearly a test to see how violent he really was, and if the citizens of Byrnt Port should be worried. After all, they had just seen a Clubba dropped off by Kremlings nearly bash a Bandit's face in. Due to not carrying any Waffle Kingdom currency, the offer was quite tempting for Tubba as well. Tubba would come to regret the curt nod he gave the Byrnt Port mayor, for it directly led him into the dank, dark hold of a ship, banging against the wooden walls for freedom, screaming for justice as the ship pushed off to sea, taking him away from the Waffle Kingdom and liberation.